Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless Are Pro Wrestlers, Not Journalists

How many times do we have to do this? How many times do we have to sit around and pretend like what Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless do on ESPN's First Take is anything even remotely akin to journalism?

If you missed it yesterday, Stephen A. Smith threatened Kevin Durant, after Kevin Durant said that Smith was lying when Smith went on the air and said that Durant is considering going to the Lakers next summer. Huh? That doesn't sound like real sports. That sounds like professional wrestling. Flash back to the early 2000s and tell me this doesn't sound like it could have been a plot: "Kevin Nash threatened Hulk Hogan after Hulk accused Kevin Nash of lying when Nash said that Hulk was going to join the NWO Wolfpack." Right?

Watch Smith's rant where he says Durant "[does] not want to make an enemy out of me."

That's shocking coming from a journalist. But that's not what Smith and Bayless are. These guys are playing the role of "journalists" with "sources" the way Sgt. Slaughter pretended to be a soldier for the WWF. They make a living cutting what are basically pro wrestling promos all morning, every morning, and then we in the media scoop up their nonsense and repackage it as "CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT SKIP AND STEPHEN A. SAID THIS TIME?!" Of course I can. I wasn't shocked when Ric Flair talked about being "the Rolex wearin’, diamond ring wearin’, kiss stealin’, wheelin’ dealin’, limousine ridin’, jet flyin’ son of a gun."

I wasn't shocked when Stone Cold claimed to have "whupped everybody's ass" when an entire bar started fighting.

So why would I be shocked when Skip Bayless screams that LeBron James is the most overrated player of all time?

And if you have any doubt that these guys are just shitty pro wrestlers who don't have the decency to suplex each other, you clearly have never caught an episode of First Take, when the show's on the road in front of a crowd.